A Journeyman's tale
by LordofGoats
Summary: Set in the Iron Kingdom, a young Journeyman attempts to survive amidst war, prejudice and her own feelings.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Have posted this elsewhere, but then thought I might as well post it here. The Iron kingdoms belong to Privateer Press.**

Guns rumbled in the distance, the sound carried over the tall trees of the Thornwood by a never ceasing cold wind that was coming down from the barbaric north, a clean smell that cut through the scent of leaf mulch and the more sinister smell of gunsmoke that emanated from the mighty fortress of Northguard. Journeyman Warcaster Scarlett Nash huffed to herself, not so mighty a fortress now.

The attack of the Khadoran armies had left a shattered bastion in its wake, she had stood with loyal soldiers of Cygnar through day after day of siege, she had fought in the frozen mud of the trenches, lending her arcane power to the warjacks that stood with her. She had been cut off from the rearguard led by General Nemo when a mighty wall of frozen wind blew over her, forcing the warjacks under her command to follow her she tried to find her way back to the main army, and now wandered in what she believed was the general direction of the retreat. Glancing back over her shoulder she sent a pulse of thought to her loyal Centurion's cortex.

'Ajax, help get that cart unstuck'

With great thuds that jarred the ground she walked on, the Centurion moved behind a cart that was stuck in a rut, setting down the huge spear the warjack had carried with him from Northguard. A gout of steam vented as the warjack's hands clasped the bottom of the cart and heaved it back onto solid ground. Scarlett allowed herself a moment to inspect the 'jacks she had brought with her, Ajax was the biggest 'jack in her command, standing taller and broader than any other in Cygnar's arsenal, armoured plates protected it's shoulders and masses of cabling and pipes full of steam wound through the 'jack. Carried on one arm was its shield and recently retrieved the huge Piston spear dangled from its other hand. Standing at her side like a faithful guard dog which it was often compared to stood her Sentinal, appearing frail when stood next to Ajax the Sentinel was nonetheless still a warjack, a shield covered one arm and in the other a chain gun was attached, Scarlet had yet to give her Sentinal a name, as she liked to do with 'jacks assigned to her.

A groan of pain was raised from the cart as it settled down on the firmer ground. The cart was the reason she had not been able to rejoin the advance, moving through the woods at speed was difficult due to Ajax's size and the strain on Scarlet's mind was taking its toll when they had encountered the cart, filled with half a dozen wounded men, Scarlet refused to abandon them, even at the insistence of the Captain of the mixed band of Trenchers and Rangers who had accompanied the cart. All dead now she thought, sacrificed to give time for the wounded to escape. Walking over to the cart she tapped the tired looking horse pulling the cart to keep going.

A rustle of the bushes behind her caused Scarlet to whip around pulling her pistol from her holster, blue runes flashed into existence around the pistol as she poured arcane power into the modified barrel and time seemed to slow, Scarlet was able to see the young man in the camouflage cloak of a ranger emerge from the woods, tears were streaked down his cheeks and his face was flushed beneath the thick mud and numerous scratches that adorned him. His rifle bounced against his back, held in place only by a sling. His mouth opened and a strangled cry emerged. This was the last thing he would ever say as a bullet emerged from the centre of his forehead, fired from behind. The bullet had lost most of the force by the time it reached Scarlet, but her Sentinel still moved its shield down to intercept. Scarlet stepped to one side once again allowing her a clear view of the trees. With seemingly infinite slowness a trickle of sweat broke out on the back of her neck and rolled down underneath her armour. From the darkness of the trees a shape emerged, more blocky and heavily built than even Ajax, the Juggernaut moved with a precision that gave away that it was not acting alone, Scarlett's eyes whipped left and right as she attempted to find the controller of the warjack, its eyes burned a sinister red, and the enormous axe clasped in it's hand gave off an aura of biting cold, painted a deep red, the 'jack seemed to be drawn to Ajax.

Scarlet felt a pulse of anger flash across Ajax's cortex and directly to her own mind, at the same time she felt her Sentinel prepare itself to intercept any shot that came towards her. Scarlett's eyes were drawn to the left as another shape emerged from the forest, it was another deep red 'jack, this time a Destroyer, the stubby bombard taking the place of the fist that the Juggernaut had. Another axe was clutched in its other hand. Breath hitching in her throat Scarlet was startled by the voice that came from a lithe well-built figure that stood between the two 'jacks. The voice was smooth and sensuous, clad in armour the same red as the warjack's that stood on either side. The woman had long black hair tied back into a ponytail leaving the pale skin of her neck and face exposed, a sword was holstered at the woman's side and a pistol was held loosely at her side.

"Hmm, what's this? A little Cygnarian. Cut off from the shambolic rout no doubt, it's a shame really, I had hoped to encounter a real warcaster, not a pathetic Journeyman.

Scarlet felt herself flush at the insult and in the same tone of utter contempt she normally reserved for gung-ho trenchers of other Journeyman who believed she was not fit for Cygnar's armed forces.

"Hardly a rout, as I recall the last thing I saw was the entire 'grand' Khadoran army being held back by an old man, the esteemed General Nemo. Of course I would not expect anything else from the barbarian north!" Scarlett smiled as she saw the other woman's mouth tighten.

"You dare talk to me like that Cygnarian dog, I'll gut you slowly and burn the name of Alexis Forkov into the minds of your wounded, your screams will become legendary!"

Scarlett felt her arcane power flair as she drew her pistol up to point at the Alexis's chest, dedicating part of her power to moving her Centurion up to square off against the two opposing 'jacks. She was aware that if she could knock one of the Khadoran warjack's out the fight early on she might stand a chance of surviving.

Scarlett's finger was tightening on the trigger when a booming laughter echoed around the clearing coming from the treeline, Scarlett turned her head slowly whilst trying to keep half her attention on the other Warcaster. She could see across the clearing that Alexis was trying to do the same thing. Shapes emerged from the treeline, the first thing either of them saw was the ominous green glow, then eyes that burned with hatred appeared. Into the clearing stepped a nightmare made flesh. Tall and pale as snow, a man stood, covered in black armour from head to toe, a spear was grounded at his side, a green glow surrounded his spear and runes were flashing across his armour.

In a hissing whisper that managed to reach across the clearing to both women the man said "Such passion in defence of your country, and such hatred! Oh my, you will both make excellent talent to be reborn in the Lord Toruk's image". Moving to his side from the cover of the forest came two shapes that stood around the height of a man, each had the face of a snarling predator, Scarlett recognised arc nodes sparking and glowing with green built into their backs. As she watched more shapes poured from the forest in a wave to stand without semblance of ranks around the man, Scarlet recognised some of the horror stories that had spread throughout the Journeymen quarters about the forces of Cryx. The man seemed to be an Iron Lich, the equivalent of Cygnar and Khador's warcasters. Sweat continued to dribble down under her armour as the implication hit her, she could potentially be facing off against a fully able Warcaster, nothing in her training had prepared her for this, she had always been under the apparently naive impression that until she was ready she would be joining the forces of a fully trained Warcaster.

Shambling things that looked like vile mixtures of machinery and flesh just kept coming, stopping after a few paces out of the forest, larger shapes strode from the forest, they looked like the equivalent of Warjacks but were painted in deepest black with horns and fangs.

Scarlet looked over to where Alexis stood and found the other woman was already looking at her, their eyes seemed to give all the messages that were needed, with a small nod it was decided.

Alexis acted first, her Destroyer turned to launch an explosion into the midst of the man shaped things, meanwhile Scarlet allowed the runes surrounding her pistol to wink out and manipulated her arcane power, Ajax moved as fast as he could straight towards the central mass of Cryxians, straight at the Iron Lich, meanwhile her Sentinel took up a braced stance and its chain gun rattled to life, one of the 'jacks with the beast heads was riddled with impact hits and went down on one knee as a shot struck its knee joint, another shot caused the arc node atop it to spark and die, Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief at the destruction of the Arc node. Transferring her attention to where Ajax stood she allowed her mind to take direct control of the Warjack. Pouring a constant stream of power into the 'jack, Scarlet sent him a command

'Kill them'

Satisfaction erupted from the Centurians cortex as with runes encircling its spear the weapon punched through one of the larger Cryx warjacks, ripping it back brought much of the enemy 'jacks innards with it, the green glow flared and died as the 'jack collapsed. Sending a pulse of thought to the generator set in the Centurians shield a field of energy flared and significantly slowed the charge of several fleshy constructs, as well as the other small warjack. The energy field's magnetic waves died but not before blunting the power of the blows that were delivered. Drawing the spear back for another thrust Ajax smashed his shield into one of the fleshy constructs causing it to be thrown back limp as whatever had animated it appeared to fail. Scarlett noted something out of the corner of her eye and saw another one of the larger Cryxian warjack's hurtle towards Ajax's unshielded flank.

The warjack moved as fast as the light warjack's Scarlett was often given to command, it seemed impossible for something of that size to move as fast as that. With a rending ripping screech claws ripped into Ajax. Raising its arm for another great glow, the jack was knocked off its feet as the deep red Juggernaut slammed into it, the greater bulk of the warjack sending the Cryxian machine flying, it crashed down and skidded through the ranks of the flesh-machine hybrids.

Scarlett tore Ajax's mind away from where it was watching the Juggernaut lay about itself with the axe it clutched in its fist. A heavy boom echoed and another bombard shot took the downed machine full in the chest, the green light flared as the 'jack attempted to right itself, before it could so much as get back on one knee a steady stream of bullets smashed into the machine's chest and head, Scarlett smiled as she felt her Sentinel's satisfaction as the 'jack slumped dead.

Scarlett once again immersed herself in Ajax's cortex. From the height of the Centurion Scarlett saw the Iron Lich, he had a smile on his face when he had first confronted the two women, but he was no longer smiling.

Scarlet surfaced briefly and looked around at the battlefield they stood on, with both the Cygnarians and Khadoran jacks working together, utilising their heavier weaponry and thicker armour the forces of Cryx had been ground down, the fleshy constructs had seemed to focus on the closest targets, which in this case were the heavily armoured 'jacks. Scarlett began to smile, she had given herself up for dead when the Iron Lich had first emerged.

At that moment a low laugh rang, the source was none other than the Iron Lich, "I see you smile young one, do you think you have survived this, thus far I have allowed my minions to do the fighting, but now it is time for me to enter battle myself."

Green runes flared brightly from the maelstrom of combat and a bolt of energy soared towards Alexis.

Scarlett watched as if in slow motion as surprise and pain crossed the pale woman's features, her power field flared and died as the power of the Iron Lich's energy crashed against it. Slowly, almost majestically, Alexis toppled. Crashing to the ground with a thud of armour plates. Scarlett heard both of the Khadoran 'jack's crash to a halt, as all guidance to their systems left them. Green runes flashed again and Scarlett saw her death, she knew the power of that bolt would go straight through her power field, preparing to embrace death, she was determined to see it coming, however at the last second the shape of her Sentinal intervened, the Sentinel flew. the bolt had caught it right in the center of the shield and in a great arc it crashed over her head and landed in a heap of broken metal and venting steam, Scarlett felt its cortex flicker...and die.

Anger coursed through her veins at the death of the noble warjack, summoning her arcane power Scarlett raised her pistol and runes erupted along its length, sighting down the barrel the Iron Lich's head she cracked off with the entire clip, several of the shots were imbued with arcane power, each one flashed and cracked off the power field of the Iron Lich as he slowly walked towards her, hearing her clip click empty, Scarlett looked to where her Centurion was locked in a death grip with a spider like jack, seemingly Cryxian from the green glow that suffused it. Turning her head back to the man walking towards her, she was just in time to see a look of horror cross his face, a series of thunderclaps reached her a second later, several shells took the Lich in the chest, his power field was useless as he had expended most of his energy with the two killing bolts, his armour stood no chance against the power of the shots boosted with arcane power. Scarlett watched him disintegrate.

Looking over her shoulder she watched a Charger step into the clearing, followed by another just like it. A figure in armour similar to her's followed into the clearing and let loose a deep shout of joy on seeing her.

"Scarlett! By Morrow girl don't scare me like that again." Scarlett finally recognised the man in the armour as Edward Smith, a fellow Journeyman from Northguard. A gangly blonde boy, Edward was not the sharpest tool in the bucket, but he was a good man with a strict code of morals. He was always the first to volunteer to help others and he had an amazing amount of raw potential.

A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, suddenly remembering Alexis she urgently called "Edward, please tell me you have some medical supplies!?"

A frown slid across the young man's features and reaching into a bag he had slung over his back, he slung her a brown leather bag. Scarlett grabbed the bag from the air and hurried to where Alexis lay, amazingly she was alive. Stripping the ruined breast plate away from Alexis's chest Scarlett set cutting apart the undershirt, she heard Edward approach from behind and suddenly realised that she had bared Alexis's chest to the air, whipping her head around she said

"Edward turn away!" Used to obeying orders without question the young man whipped around and looked resolutely away from where Alexis lay. Scarlett turned back and opening a jar of burn salve began to liberally smear the salve across the harsh red burns.

Edward's voice sounded from behind her "who's this then Scarlett?"

Taking a bandage from the bag Scarlett bit one end and began to wrap it around the other girls chest.

Turning her head Scarlett spoke to Edward's back "A Khadoran who saved my life Edward, saved Ajax too."

Huffing Edward spat on the ground "Vile place this is, smells of death."

Scarlett grunted in agreement, finishing off the final knot Scarlett stood and dusted off her knees, looking down at Alexis she saw her eyes open in slits and her head turned up to her. Scarlett turned and tapped Edwards shoulder, linking her mind back in with Ajax she set the jack to walking.

As they walked Edward nudged Scarlett and said "fine looking girl that Alexis, huh? I know you swing that way, no other explanation as to why you have turned down just about every bloke who has ever wanted to be with you."

A sharp yelp of pain echoed into the clearing as Scarlett delivered a heavy thump to Edward's shoulder.

**AN: Yay, first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: It does get quite dark early chapter, just a early warning now.**

1 week later….

Looking up from her book Scarlett realised she was surrounded. She had decided to use some of her annual leave to take a hike into the hills surrounding the camp set up to allow the survivors of Northguard to recuperate before being reassigned to the front. It had taken two days to make it out of the Thornwood and back to the new border, Scarlett herself had immediately been taken to the medical pavilion whereupon she found herself being stripped and examined to discover any injuries. As she was taken away she had glanced over her shoulder to see Edward being escorted towards the command tent by two fully armoured Stormblades, meanwhile mechanics were surrounding Ajax and after a senior mechanic made connection with the warjack's cortex moved the Centurion off towards the workshops to fix the damage that had been inflicted in the retreat from Northguard.

She might have sustained several minor injuries in brief skirmishes with minor Cryxian patrols, but was informed that her main hurt was the overtaxing of her arcane power, she had been engaged in a long and intense battle which she had been using her power throughout with little rest. The senior medical officer had written orders that excused her from duties for no less than a fortnight. Having found no sign of Edward and being shooed away from the warjack pool whenever she had tried to visit Ajax, Scarlett had decided to take some time for herself and find a secluded spot where she could read her book.

Taking with her only her book and a canister of water, Scarlett had assumed herself safe with such a large encampment so close, around a mile out from the camp she had found a picturesque spot, shaded by trees and the grass waving in the wind, warm sunlight played across the earth, and warmed her skin, clad in leggings and sleeveless tunic Scarlett settled under the tree for the day. She was only aware of trouble when a shadow fell across her.

Scarlett raised her head slowly to look up at a figure clad in leather, scars decorated the man's face, of particular note was a scar that had seemed to take the use of one eye and twisted the man's mouth into a permanent sneer. A heavy knife was strapped his waist and a pair of patched trousers completed the outfit. A rifle was slung across his shoulders. Scarlett's eyes flickered to the left and right to see at least three more shapes, men dressed similarly to the one in front of her stood a little way off.

In a rough voice that sounded like it was more used to shouting commands than talking, the man in front of her said "well looky here lads, looks like we found a little doe who has strayed too far from her little farm."

Earthy chuckles echoed from the men surrounding her and Scarlett's eyes flashed, setting aside her book Scarlett rose from the ground and opened her mouth to deliver a stinging retort, however as she drew air into her lungs, a heavy blow to the side of her face stopped her, trying to pull her mind together enough to manipulate her arcane power, a heavy blow to her stomach once again shattered her concentration, another blow to the back of her head rendered her vision hazy, the taste of blood in her mouth from a cut on her tongue seemed very sharp.

She felt rough hands grasp at her body and brought her hands up to try to push away the men who had moved to surround her, the blows to her head had left her feeling too woozy to put up much resistance, whenever she felt like she was ready to resist with her arcane powers, a blow seemingly came from nowhere and left her dazed. The rape continued for many hours, Scarlett was used again and again by each man. When unconsciousness came, it was a blessing.

She awoke in the darkness, a half moon feebly trying to light the night. Trying to get her bearing Scarlett started off by flexing one hand, then the other. Next she tried her toes and discovered that they seemed to be in working order, with a great effort Scarlett cracked her eyes open and rolling over vomited onto the grass, moaning from the pain in her thighs and the bruises decorating her flesh, Scarlett opened her mouth to call for help, doing so reopened the thin cuts caused by the blows she had received. A horse strangled sound emerged from her mouth and seemed to echo in the empty landscape, the wind had grown bitingly cold, hugging what was left of her shirt to her chest Scarlett rolled onto her side facing away from where she had been sick, curling her legs up into her chest she called out again, no comprehensible words were formed, just a low moan of despair and pain. Pain pulsed through her body, she felt barely human, like an animal that had served its purpose and was now to be discarded. Memories of grasping rough hands danced through her mind and this prompted another hoarse moan of suffering.

This time though, someone heard. Scarlett cringed as another shadow fell across her, cracking her eyes open Scarlett looked up into the face of a grizzled female ranger, Scarlett could barely bring herself to look at the other woman. Instead she nestled her chin against her chest and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Feeling the cold recede as a rough fabric was pulled across her shoulders she was pulled into the embrace of the other woman and held tightly, tears leaked from her eyes and soaked the rangers tunic. She heard a voice call out and soon more people arrived, words were spoken but Scarlett paid no attention, after what seemed like an age of sitting in the ranger's embrace she felt herself lifted up and guided along with a gentle hand resting on her arm.

Upon reaching the camp, Scarlett pulled the rough fabric of the rangers cloak tighter around her and stared resolutely at the ground, even at this late hour the camp was still busy and questions were shouted after her and her escort, things had apparently already been arranged as she was led straight to the command tent and ushered past the form worn looking form of General Nemo, he appeared to be directing patrols of trenchers and rangers out in an attempt to find any trace of where the men went. A flap was pulled aside and the room emptied apart from a few female medical personnel, the femal ranger who had found Scarlett quickly turned and attempted to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. Scarlett realised at that moment it was her own.

"Please...please don't leave"

A slight frown creased the rangers face but her expression softened "no need to worry young one, I won't leave if you don't want me to"

A steaming hot bath was drawn and Scarlett was guided into it, refusing to unclench, Scarlett held her knees tightly against her chest and shuddered every time a washcloth was passed over her flesh, mentally and physically exhausted, at long last Scarlett's body unclenched and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Hours later explosions woke Scarlett from a deep sleep. Opening her eyes, the first thing she heard was the curious whizz sound of mortar shells arching through the air, the shouts and crackle of fire reached her soon after. Sitting up in the cot, Scarlett winced as the aches of her body returned, pushing the nightmarish memories of the evening before to the back of her mind she swung her legs down from her cot.

Finding herself dressed in a night shift, Scarlett slipped her foot into the boots that sat at her bedside, she knew that with the camp under attack, she would be far safer clad in her armour and with Ajax. Sweeping the tent flap aside, Scarlett found herself face to face with a member of the Winterguard.

Clad in a deep red uniform, the man had not expected to find her, at first taking a step back, his expression of surprise was replaced with a grin of lust. Scarlett's eyes hardened and summoning her power to one fist she struck a heavy blow to the man's stomach, with the power of her magic behind the blow, it punched through the winter guards chest. Blood ran down her arm as the Khadoran's heart pumped blood from the edge of the wound. Ripping her arm back, Scarlett felt no pity as he writhed on the ground, his blood now staining the ground red. Scarlett began to run in the direction of her tent, mercifully the Khadorans were still being held back for the most part by the resistance offered by the Trenchers and Long gunners.

Stepping through the entrance to her tent, Scarlett found her armour where she had left it, hung from the wooden stand. In record time, Scarlett buckled herself into her armour and fired up the turbine, coughing and spluttering, the armour seemed to lift most of its weight from her shoulders, reaching for her sword and pistol, her weapons belt fitted snugly around her waist.

Scarlett took a moment to listen to the sounds of fighting, they had reached far closer to the tent than she would have liked whilst she was getting prepared. Leaving her hair unbound, Scarlett ran, the journeyman armour she wore may not have been as refined as the armour she would receive if she ever graduated as a full warcaster, but it still gave her a burst of speed unmatched by unarmoured people.

Slamming a clip into her pistol, Scarlett reached the warjack pool, as expected the warjack's boilers had been lit and were being driven to full effectiveness as quickly as possible. Through the press of warjack's taken from Northguard Scarlett could make out the form of Ajax.

Reaching out with her mind, Scarlett found the Centurions cortex, still sluggish from the long sleep the warjack responded slowly, steam hissed as it's arms raised to grasp a newly repaired spear, the shield the Centurion habitually carried to battle was nowhere in sight. In absence of this Ajax grasped the shock hammer of a badly damaged Defender that stood in the bay next to him, raising the weapon the warjack seemed to test its heft and find it satisfactory. With a heavy thud and a clank of moving parts Ajax stepped forward, with his boiler still warming he was sluggish but responding to her mental commands.

A commotion on the far side of the workshop drew Scarlett's attention, two Chargers had moved off without instructions, the ground shook as another explosion erupted on the far side of the camp, firming her mouth Scarlett set off after the errant knew she was needed at the defence, but she found it unusual that the two Chargers, normally some of the more placid 'jacks would break with their normal behaviour.

Glancing over her shoulder, Scarlett saw Ajax was slowly beginning to move less sluggishly and was now moving at a run after her, another explosion threw men and dust into the air, Scarlett once again firmed her mouth, hoping that other Journeyman would respond soon, Scarlett sought out the two Chargers and found them outside the stockade. The one building in the camp that looked permanent, it was built to hold anyone who was being held ready for court martial or as a place to allow troops who had too much to drink cool off until the morning.

Reaching out with her mind Scarlett found that both warjack's were already under control of another warcaster or marshall. Carefully approaching the doors to the stockade, Scarlett looked through the barred door and found herself face to face with Edward. Raising one eyebrow Scarlett let the silence stretch.

With a sheepish grin on his face, Edward looked at her and said "yeah...when I came to pull your ass out of the fire in the Thornwood….I didn't exactly get permission." Scarlett felt a small smirk spread across her face and motioned him back.

"Well it looks like it's time for me to return the favour, now stand back." Edward stepped back and waited expectantly. Drawing her foot back Scarlett kicked the door next to the lock, powered by her armour the kick caused the door splintered and fall off its hinges.

Finding herself faced with the fully armoured form of Edward, she looked questioningly at him, with a shrug Edward said in response "I have been lugging rocks up and down the hill as punishment, they just figured it would be easier to leave the armour in here with me."

Shouts of pain reached across the camp to where the two Journeyman stood, Scarlett motioned to the two Chargers "these two came to find you, good thing they did too. Now come on, we have a camp to save."

With a mental prod Ajax and the two chargers set off. Looking ahead into the haze of gun smoke and dust, Scarlett saw shapes resolving, the forms of the huge Khadoran warjacks and the silhouettes of Man-O-Wars advancing into the camp, a wave of Cygnarion troops fell back before the Khadorans, this was no orderly retreat, this was a rout. Men clutched the stumps of limbs and limped with cracked bones, blood streaked from faces and leaked from bullet wounds, armour and clothing was battered and torn. Eyes were wide with horror and terror.

Drawing her pistol Scarlett used her arcane power to force runes to glow along the barrel's length, drawing sight down the barrel a shot was loosed, the glowing shot smashed into the helmet of a Man-O-War and with a shuddering crash the heavy suit crashed to the ground, the head of the controller pulverised. A double thunderclap sounded behind her, the Shots from Edward's chargers smacked into a Khadoran Juggernaut, driven back a step by the force of the shots, another double thunderclap sounded and more shots crashed into the Juggernaut, driven back another step, a heavy boom echoed as Edward's hand cannon was unleashed. The glowing shot cracked the knee joint of the warjack and with a tottering hop the warjack hit the ground. The arms of the warjack reached out, digging furrows in the earth the Juggernaut slid forward a few centimetres. Dismissing the opposing warjack as being useless now Scarlett turned back to the battle.

The sound of the Juggernauts fall momentarily seemed to ring through the battle as eyes turned towards where Edward and Scarlett stood, Scarlett realised this was the moment the battle hinged on, drawing her blade and holding it high in the air, bright blue runes glowed and drew the attention of the broken Cygnarion troops.

In a clear smooth voice Scarlett called "men and women of Cygnar! Will you run before these barbarians, or will you stand and fight with me, fight this day and reclaim our land from these beasts of the northern snows!" Scarlett gasped, she felt a strange energy flow from her, it was no normal power as it did not leave her bone weary, lowering her sword Scarlett walked towards the Khadorans and raising her pistol pumped three shots into the closest Man-O-War. None of the shots impacted the head, but they did manage to hit one of the knee joints, causing the armour to slump slightly to one side. With the leg now a dead weight the advancing line of Man-O-Wars was disrupted, leaving their wounded comrade behind the other members of the unit attempted to close ranks, however they were not fast enough to avoid another double thunderclap that brought two more Man-O-Wars down. A light breeze picked up and caught the smoke issuing from the Charger's gun barrels, tearing the smoe to pieces.

With her speech fading sound seemed to return. Out of the corner of her eyes Scarlett saw the mixed mob of Trenchers and Long gunners stand taller, wounds that before had caused crippling pain now receded to dull throbs, minds broken by the turmoil of war found a new purpose, they would do as was commanded. Turning the mob raised a wide mix of rifles and fired into the Man-O-War, several of the huge suits went down, cannon shots from the Man-O-Wars came back, but the soldiers of Cygnar were ignoring their own losses now. Inspired by the Scarlett's words they advanced, firing all the while. This was not a contingency the Khadorans had prepared for, they had assumed they would break the camp's defenders and chase them down.

Thumps echoed and two more Khadoran warjacks walked from the dust and smoke, Scarlett felt her face drop, the force they faced here was easily enough to sweep through the camp's defenders. Firming her mouth, Scarlett sent a pulse of thought to Ajax.

'Lets go down fighting my friend'

Letting out a cry of rage at the thought of the Khadorans taking any more Cygnarian lives, Scarlett charged, joined by Ajax and a whole howling mob of Trenchers. Bayonets cut and parried, the Man-O-Wars seemed impervious to the blades that flashed at them, their enormous blades sliced again and again, Trenchers fell by the dozen but continued to press on. Scarlett let out an incomprehensible howl as she charged alongside her warjack, using the power of her armoured muscles Scarlett leaped at the closest Man-O-War, rising into the air she drew her blade back and brought it down in a sweeping cut, going over the top of the shield, the blade plunged into the helmet, the armoured suit crumpled backwards under Scarlett's momentum, placing one boot on the chest of the Shocktrooper, Scarlett wrenched her blade free.

Throwing her mind into the effort, Scarlett caused Ajax's spear to flash with blue runes the moment before it made contact with the Juggernaut's hull, crackling force ripped along the length of the weapon as it pierced through the warjack's hull, however, Khadoran warjack's were not so easy to bring down, Scarlett knew she had made a terrible mistake, sending commands through the link she had with Ajax, the Centurion raised the shock hammer in its other hand and brought it down on the shoulder joint that connected to the arm that carried the Juggernauts axe. Lightning arced over the Juggernauts hull as the shock hammer's secondary generator kicked in.

Scarlett looked on in horror as both of the enemy warjack's arms raised and came crashing down on Ajax's shoulders, the Centurion chassis had been built to be able to match the Khadoran warjacks in terms of armour and weight, but they were still a mass production model. One of her warjack's shoulders crumpled and Ajax was driven to one knee, arms raised to deliver another great blow, two shapes intercepted, hammers beat at the warjack's hull as the Chargers darted as fast as they could, looking over her shoulder Scarlett could see the perspiration on Edward's forehead as he pushed both himself and the warjack's past recommended operation expectancy. Realising the opportunity she had been given, Scarlett poured her will into the Centurion, getting back to his feet Ajax moved away at Scarlett's urging. The lightning from the shockhammer still rippled across the Juggernaut, preventing the opposing Warcaster from pouring their willpower into the warjack, this was perhaps the only thing that still gave Scarlett some hope, throwing her mind back into Ajax she forced him forward again, dropping the hammer Ajax grasped the spear that was still sticking out of the opposing warjack's hull, with a great wrench the spear was pulled free and rammed back in, the force of the blow caused the Juggernaut to stagger, and finally to fall, two close range cannon shots from the Chargers put the huge 'jack out of its misery as its hull sustained too much damage to continue operating. Thumping footsteps grew louder in her ears and Scarlett realised she had left herself exposed to the other warjack that had advanced with the recently deceased Juggernaut. A small smile crossed her face, as she realised she was about to die to a rookie mistake, the world seemed to slow, and Scarlett was able to take in everything around her, the look of shock on Edward's face, the movement of the Chargers as they vainly raced to intercept, the one remaining Man-O-War sweeping his blade through any Trencher who tried to bring him down, rifle fire pinged in her ears. Then the thumping stopped. Time returned to its normal rate and Scarlett whipped her head around. A Destroyer stood motionless, the eyes of the warjack seemed to be looking at her.

The Khadoran withdrawal was sudden, the Shocktrooper moved first, never turning his back on the ranks of Long gunners of Trenchers, with shield held in front, the Destroyer also withdrew into the smoke and dust. The final thing Scarlett saw was a pale, midnight haired woman give her a slight nod and then disappearing.

The battle had ended. With the loss of so many, no celebrations were sung, all Scarlett could pick up was that the camp's sentries had been taken out by Widowmaker fire, allowing the Khadorans to move Mortars to within range, this had coincided with a meeting by all senior officers in the camp, including the majority of the Journeyman. The only ones who had not attended were Scarlett and Edward. A Sergeant of the Trenchers had managed to organise the defence of the camp, but without warjack support it had been an uphill battle.

A few days later Scarlett discovered that she, Edward and the Trencher Sergeant were being taken back to the Capital, to be honored by King Leto himself. When she asked why they were being given such an Honor, she was simply told that the people needed more heroes, and that some people who were once considered heroes, were no longer retaining quite the support they used to. Stepping onto the train after ensuring Ajax was strapped down correctly, she was informed that the Trencher Sergeant had been injured in the fighting, so she would not be able to meet him until the award ceremony.

**AN: Please review, I would like to hear people's feedback.**


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